The Sky Above, the Church Below

Looks as if the Rev. Robert Schuller really does have enormous influence in high places. No one else has been able to stop aerial spraying of malathion in his neighborhood. But Schuller did, and more than divine intervention, that takes big-time political clout.

It seems that state agricultural officials ordered the helicopter pilots who were sprayinga 36-square-mile area in Orange County Jan. 25 to spare Schuller’s famous Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove from an aerial shower of malathion. And to date that’s been the only exemption granted by the authorities in the increasingly controversial and widespread spraying program to eradicate the Mediterranean fruit fly from the Los Angeles area.

One can hardly blame Schuller for requesting the cease-fire. (A pastor needs always to look out for the physical as well as the spiritual health of his flock). Indeed, many thousands of people would surely have liked similar dispensation. The issue is the state’s decision. Schuller got special consideration, say officials, because on the night of the scheduled spraying of that area, Schuller was hosting a conference at the Crystal Cathedral and had a large outdoor dinner scheduled under a tent on church grounds.

Perhaps the official concern is understandable, but what of other, less-well-connected people who may have been outdoors in the same area that night? Say, the many homeless people unprotected in Garden Grove’s Pioneer Park? Moreover, the church grounds are less than 2 miles from where a Medfly was found last month, and is well within the designated spray zone. The grounds also contain an ample number of trees, shrubs and flower gardens.

It was wrong to make an exemption for the Crystal Cathedral. The decision only adds to the controversy over spraying and undermines public confidence in the state’s claim that the spraying, which they say is absolutely necessary, poses no health risks. The exception also raises another question: If the state believes it is all right to exempt one property within a spray area, is the need for widespread, blanket spraying really as critical as the state agriculture officials claim it is?

No doubt officials will insist that the answer is yes, and continue to fight all efforts to stop aerial malathion spraying. Perhaps they’re right. And, perhaps they now rue the night they made a no doubt well-intentioned exception for a popular and influential public figure. At least we hope so.